Jack Kerouac, cult writer of the Beat generation, remains an American icon. This documentary focuses on the creative pinnacle of his life—63 days spent as a fire warden on Desolation Peak in Washington State. Examining the time through photos and the commentary of those who knew him, the program illuminates Kerouac’s previous work, while prefiguring his later spiral into alcoholism. This is a moving film essay on the unfulfilled ambitions of one of America’s great avant-garde literary figures.

Jack Kerouac documentary

1997